Meanwhile, on the Indian side, Sarabjit's wife and children had threatened to commit suicide if Sarabjit Singh was hanged in Pakistan.

They insist that Sarabjit Singh is an innocent farmer and has no connection whatsoever with the Indian intelligence agencies.

The helpless family has been running from pillar to post, to bring him back to India, but to no avail.

However, Sarabjit Singh was granted consular access recently, following which the Indian High commission officials met him in a high security prison near Lahore.

An Indian official told the media that Sarabjit Singh has conveyed a message to his family, but declined to spell out what it was.

Student and neighbours from Sarabjit Singh's village in India have also pleaded with the Pakistani authorities in candle-light marches to free the condemned prisoner.

So far, neither Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh nor Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has spoken in public about the fate of the prisoner.

However, on 30th August 2005, India and Pakistan agreed to release some civilian prisoners from across the border, who have unknowingly strayed across. This agreement does not include Sarabjit Singh, who is on death row.